PTE Score Guide - A must read to understand marking/scoring pattern

NEGATIVE MARKING

Every test taker must be aware that a few questions have negative marking and you need to be
cautious about that, i am listing them below

1. Reading Section
a) Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers - Points deducted for incorrect options chosen

2. Listening Section
a) Multiple–choice, choose multiple answers - Points deducted for incorrect options chosen

b) Highlight incorrect words - Points deducted for incorrect options chosen

Some more videos shared at end regarding each section.

Now sharing some tips & strategies taken by persons who have attempted PTE and cleared with
good scores, Please note you can devise a new strategy which you find comfortable to practise.

0. By self - A generic technique ; I more or less practised in this way, but time gaps were
larger

Imagine one month left for exam ;

take the free practise test on day 1- that will help you analyze your weak points, work on them
for 9 days

take practise test 2 on day 10, then again analyze your weak points

work sincerely on your weak points, again and again and take 3rd practise test on day 25

1. Shared by Amrit Pai

Some generic advice but important. Work on your flaws which are needed for this exam. No need
to work on everything. Play clever.

1. You are being scored by a computer so think like a computer giving test
2. Computer has limited ability. It will catch you on spelling error..Less time spoken etc etc
3. Speak slowly in speaking.
4. Don’t think too much about content …But be clear when you speak and speak for the time
frame given to you.
5. Do not take a break when speaking…As recorder stops recording if you don’t speak for more
than 3 seconds. And your game over.
6. While writing…NO spelling mistakes.
7. Retell lecture – Try to write fast when they speak. Also note important words and try to
understand context. It will be easier that way.
8. in writing the most important is the grammar..you may write the perfect content with high
vocabs but if there are grammar mistakes then you wil loose the marks drastically

Also before booking center....Visit it once before booking. Check if its congested or not. Faced
this issue in my first attempt. I scored 90 in others and 60 in speaking all coz the recorder
recorded noises of all people around me. Dumb computer didnt recognize my answers

Timeline strategy for reading

All MCQ- 6 mins

Reorder- 2 mins for each
Fib drop down- 1.5 mins for each blank

fib mcq- 10 mins for all

2. Own tips
Reading - we need to do a good time management

If u r aiming for 79+, then have a strategy, practice more and more on fill in blanks, I found them
scoring.
The options in fill in blank seem very close to each other, so during practice get to know
meaning of each and every word, this will develop your vocabulary and later on give explanation
with correct choice of that particular answer
Read a lot of standard material online - newspaper website are good
Blogs - they sometime have low standard English with grammatical mistakes, so avoid reading
miscellaneous blogs for sometime. CNN, BBC, First post, Hindu website are good -their English
vocabulary is a level better than others
If possible take an article, read it and paraphrase it in some notepad - it will increase your
reading and writing skill
Reorder paragraphs are like jigsaw puzzle, u need to fit in the pieces, see the start and end of a
line and compare with other lines, in 2-3 glances u will be able to set it in order
Single choice answer - take a quick glance at paragraph, then read the question, try to relate
question and portion of paragraph which has the keyword asked in question, now go through the
portion which contains that keyword, search for your answer and click the option which is best
 Multiple choice - same technique, just be cautious, the options are very close and select option
only if u r 100% confident, else leave it.

Last not least, don't be demotivated at any stage, understand the pattern, practice and practice,
nothing else.

3. Re-tell Lecture

This strategy is originally from Sneha Patil

Before starting your test, write on your erasable notepad these three lines
1. The speaker highlights
2. The professor throws light on
3. The lecturer focuses on

then when re-tell lecture starts, recording will play for around 2 minutes, listen patiently and see
the image/graph/table/pie chart (if any), during this time try to note as many keywords spoken in
the recording as possible, u will have around 10-12 seconds to prepare yourself with what to
speak.

When time starts for recording answer, start with any 1 of 3 lines u have written on your
erasable notepad, mention the keywords u have noted down and try to fill in text by yourself to
present a story. keep necessary pauses between sentences, but not more then 3 seconds.

Use the three different lines for the different lectures, generally ppl dont get more then 3 re-tell
lectures, follow this strategy you shall be clear

4. Summarize text -

two question of this type, you get 10 mins to answer each i.e. 20 mins

read the given text to scan general idea, read second time to get connecting details( cause,
effect), read third time to relate to any example etc if any

While reading keep writing the key points, connection, example which you find relevant to main
idea of the text

Now start writing actual summary, it should start with a capital letter, avoid using capital letter
anywhere else(even if youu feel its required), In 1st line write the main point indicated in text put
a comma then write supporting detail and finally put a full stop at end
Key points to take care of - your summarize text shall cover the main Idea and a supporting
statement or inference, it should be a single line summary starting with a capital letter and
separated by commas, full stop only to be provided at end.

In continuation to my earlier post regarding speaking tips, this one has been extracted from an
expert's post on FB

5. Graphs Tips n Tricks

Sometimes you get too much or too less information in explaining the graphs which may
include Line Graphs, Bar Graphs, Pie Charts to name a few. So what is the best strategy
to tackle this problem.
You have to make a right strategy within 25 seconds so that you can easily explain the
graph in 40 seconds.
Here are some of the tips that works
1) Identify the inputs given in the graph. Check the inputs/ variables given in the X axis
and Y axis.
For example - You are sometimes given population, sales etc in the Y axis and years
range in the X axis.
2) Check what the overall graph is about. It may be related to population density of
different countries, sales in different companies etc. So you may start by saying - This line
or bar graph illustrates / gives information about ..................................
3) Sometimes there are too many lines in a single graph. Firstly check the highest point
then the lowest point, check the similar patterns, trends ( increasing or decreasing or
fluctuating etc). For instance you can start by saying that the highest population among
all the countries was recorded by USA which was around 50 millions in the year 2002 and
the country with lowest population was France with a population of approximately .......
The two countries namely India and China has witnessed an almost similar trends in their
population over the past 10 years. However, the population of India showed a
dramatic increase after 2010 ..................................
4) You can use some connectors also to improve your speaking. You can use - However,
It is interesting to see .............. , Although, Similarly, Overall, On the contrary.
5) Some terminologies that can be used for expressing the trends - Dramatic increase,
Significant increase, Exponential increase, decreasing/ increasing trend, fluctuating trend,
declined considerably, huge increase, rapid fall, etc.
6) You can also use - population of X was almost 3 times then Y country. The sales of
company X was
almost 1/3rd then the sales of company Y.

If the information is too less then it is advised to speak slowly and can add some
additional information as well related to the topic.
6. Speaking Tips.. Contd...

Tips collected from my friends

For people who need support in Speaking section:

Some tips for speaking:-

Describe Image:- Whether you are understanding the graph or not, the only prime thing to keep in
mind is that it is a speaking task so you have to speak and show that you can speak, keep on
speaking for describing image or graph. When you describe the graph and if you are not getting
what to say, you can
firstly describe what the image is depicting with words like the graph shows, illustrates or
depicts.
You can say about the numbers which are on the vertical axis and the years which are on the
horizontal axis,
following this you can add the units like the graph has degree Celsius as unit or the million
dollars or percentage.

Please say these things if you feel weak as a speaker, your main focus should be to say at
least 3 sentences.
1. you can say about the topic .
2.you can say the unit
3.you can say the horizontal and vertical axis points like years or percentage.

7. Summary (Writing) - By Amrit Pai

There are three tips that should follow for summary

1. Write in present tense

2. Use independent clauses with dependent clause
3. Use main ideas with supporting points. exclude personal opinion,
Examples, unnecessary info
8. Retell Lecture - Ishan Mehta

• Study the picture if there is one. It will give you a general idea about the context of the lecture.
From the picture, try to predict what the lecture will be about. You will have three seconds to get
ready for the start of the lecture.
• Take notes. Use the erasable note board Booklet and pen provided. Do not try to write down every
word you hear. Unless you are able to write quickly and accurately, you will probably fall behind and
miss important information. Instead, focus on key words.
• Writing quickly is a key skill to master. Use abbreviations whenever possible. Ignore articles
(e.g., a, an, the) unless they are necessary. Omitting the vowels from words is one way to increase
writing speed.
• Key words include names, numbers, dates, times, and words and phrases that are stressed. Words and
phrases that are repeated are usually central to the main idea.
• Focus on understanding the main idea of the lecture and the key points that support it. If the speaker
draws a conclusion, be sure you have identified it. Try to identify the overall purpose of the lecture.
• Listen for clues to the speaker's attitude, opinion, or stance. Be aware of the speaker's tone of voice
and delivery, and try to detect any emotions that are being conveyed.
• When the lecture ends, you will have approximately 10 seconds to review your notes. Use this time to
organize what you will say. When you hear the tone, begin speaking. You will have 40 seconds to
complete the task.
• While you are speaking, if you lose your train of thought, or find yourself at a loss for words, do not
remain silent. The microphone turns off automatically if there is no sound for three seconds. If you need
to pause to think or to check your notes, use pause fillers such as um, uh, Let me see, and so on.
Saying something - anything - is better than saying nothing because once the microphone turns off,
you cannot turn it on again.

9. Describe Image Sneha Patil's Note

The notes here shows keywords to crack any graph and words to use for indicating pattern
of graph.

7. Summary (Writing) - By Amrit Pai

There are three tips that should follow for summary

1. Write in present tense

2. Use independent clauses with dependent clause

3. Use main ideas with supporting points. exclude personal opinion,

 Examples, unnecessary info

8. Retell Lecture - Ishan Mehta

• Study the picture if there is one. It will give you a general idea about the context of the lecture.
From the picture, try to predict what the lecture will be about. You will have three seconds to get

ready for the start of the lecture.

• Take notes. Use the erasable note board Booklet and pen provided. Do not try to write down every

word you hear. Unless you are able to write quickly and accurately, you will probably fall behind and

miss important information. Instead, focus on key words.

• Writing quickly is a key skill to master. Use abbreviations whenever possible. Ignore articles

(e.g., a, an, the) unless they are necessary. Omitting the vowels from words is one way to increase

writing speed.
• Key words include names, numbers, dates, times, and words and phrases that are stressed. Words and

phrases that are repeated are usually central to the main idea.
• Focus on understanding the main idea of the lecture and the key points that support it. If the speaker

draws a conclusion, be sure you have identified it. Try to identify the overall purpose of the lecture.
• Listen for clues to the speaker's attitude, opinion, or stance. Be aware of the speaker's tone of voice

and delivery, and try to detect any emotions that are being conveyed.
• When the lecture ends, you will have approximately 10 seconds to review your notes. Use this time to

organize what you will say. When you hear the tone, begin speaking. You will have 40 seconds to

complete the task.

• While you are speaking, if you lose your train of thought, or find yourself at a loss for words, do not

remain silent. The microphone turns off automatically if there is no sound for three seconds. If you need

to pause to think or to check your notes, use pause fillers such as um, uh, Let me see, and so on.
Saying something - anything - is better than saying nothing because once the microphone turns off,
you cannot turn it on again.

9. Describe Image Sneha Patil's Note

The notes here shows keywords to crack any graph and words to use for indicating pattern

of graph.
10. Tips by Sanjeev

In the Speaking Section

Retell lecture - Have organisation chart method to take notes. Manager(Mgr), Team
Leader(TL), important team members(ITM). Manager is introduction. TL is key pts and ITM are
supporting ideas. There would be junk. Avoid all of them. It is your English that computer is
interested than the content. Have 7 sec rule. 7sec for intro, 7-8 sec for key point1+support, 7-8
sec key point 2+idea, By the time you reach 60% of recording plan to start your conclusion.
Without conclusion do not DO NOT DO NOT hope to score more marks. Try to restrict the talk
to 5-6 properly constructed sentences with good grammar. Don't worry about the content but
worry about the English. Stick to 35 sec.
For charts/image/graph - many have given best solution here. I have to say again that this is
English test. Don't impress the computer with your maths ability but you should show-off your
English. Make 3-4 sentences around graph with vocabulary involving pattern of graphs/chart etc.
Once you reach 60-70% recording. Then start your conclusion. Conclusion is goalkeeper in
football. Without him there won’t be team. He may not be the world’s best, But he should be
there. Try to restrict to 35 sec.

For repeat sentence. Take notes on first letter of every word. You need to be fast. Look at blog
there are links for practice.
Remember you score more marks if you repeat words in same order. Imagine train(Indian),
Engine first, next is General compartment next is Sleeper wagon and luxury wagon ending by
guard cabin. There would be a complex sentence having two parts with some connected words.
Try to imagine fully into situation then you will be able to repeat in same order. Otherwise goods
come first then luxury in-between comes engine and general compartment. Train won't look like
train and you will loose the marks in listening and speaking

For Reading Section

Fill in the blanks - Work on your grammar and collocation list from your favourite website.
This is paramount importance for filling the blanks. Understanding the synonyms will help you
score more. Grammar rules will tell you when to use wherever, however, thus, so.
Re-order Paragraphs - For jumbled paragraph look for independent sentence which does not
need any one support. Look for cue words like “since” “then” They represent the timeline. So
place a timeline before this word. Pronouns needs nouns. So place them. You will have to
practice a lot to get them right. I ask all to practice CAT test. They have tougher ones. But with
practice you will do lot better in main exam.

For Writing Section

Summary in a sentence/ Summarize Written Text - Read the paragraph, Bring in your MGR,
TL, ITM strategy mentioned above(Retell Lecture).
Write 3 simple sentences. Use connecting words to make one complex sentence. With all this
done on your Notepad, now move to screen.. Start capital letter and put full stop immediately.
Move your cursor in-between them and type. Remember any other full stop you will loose marks.
Write around 25-30 words If you write more, the first thing that goes out of the window is your
friend grammar.
Essay writing - This list is fixed. Help yourself by practicing beforehand. This saves planning
time in exam. Write good introduction with intention to impress. Blog has many suggested
methods. Write first paragraph with key points suggesting your key point with examples. Use
suggested essay vocabulary. Please write globally recognized example. Don't write something
close to your building or local example. This shows your deeper understanding of topic. Once
you are done with first paragraph, immediately conclude. Write 3-4 lines in conclusion and move
back to write 2nd para, In case you don't write conclusion then essay is not complete and you will
not get marks. Your 2nd or 3rd para can remain incomplete. You may loose marks for written
discourse but not structure.
For Listening Section
Summarise the lecture - Follow same strategy of retell lecture on notes taking. Write 5-6 full
grammar sentences. You should he good. One usually write 8-10 words in sentence. 6 Sentence
6*10=60 words.

General Tip

Listening to the English should become your daily regimes. If you are sincere to that then you
will get success. If not then don't hope to get good score, to score in the Pte the 3 secret strategies
are... Practice, practice & practice.
11. Tip shared by Mukesh Dawar - For Summarize spoken text

Lines mentioned in image can be used as a template for summarize spoken text by filling in
the gaps you listen in recording.
+ Get your passport ready a night before the exam.

+ Be relaxed and never get stressed.

+ Try to reach 40min earlier at the exam place, before your

exam starts.

+ Never recall the words or notes, try to get relax all the time.

+ Always get your microphones checked by invigilator.

+ Don’t introduce yourself in full details: Just mention, My name

is -------- and I’m taking the PTE Academic Test.

+ When you get on the record and playback option, always

double check your microphones, whether recording properly or
not.

+ Fix the position of microphone in a correct position near to

your position, don’t play with any other button on the
equipment e.g trying to increase microphone volume, always
get it done by invigilator.

+ Click on Next Section to begin the exam.

Speaking Section:-

1) Read Aloud
+ No. of items are 6 or 7
+ Try to give stress on key words and high frequency
vocabulary words.
+ Be smooth and clear
+ Never hesitate as it will negatively influence your oral fluency
+ Read aloud score goes in reading as well.
+ Never try to correct your mistakes by going backwards as you
will make more mistakes.
+ You would be provided 35 seconds in the beginning to read
the passage, avail that time to get yourself familiar with
anonymous words.
+ There would be a beep when the recording starts. Keep an eye
on recording always.

2) Repeat Sentence

+ Try to grasp maximum ideas or words of the speaker.

+ Write the second half of the sentence quickly, if you are having
a short-term memory concern.
+ Partially credited-doesn’t weigh too much score.
+ Always try to deliver maximum information.
+ NEVER TAKE A SILENCE BREAK OF 3 SEC, as the recording will finish recording. Use
gap fillers in every section of speaking,
except read aloud section, e.g. let me see/think, I see, as far as I
know etc.

3) Graph/Describe image

+ What kind of graph it is. i.e. line graph/pie chart/bar graph etc.
+ What is the title of graph
+ Time span i.e. from the year ---- to ------.
+ Highest percentage/proportion
+ Lowest percentage/proportion
+ Use specific vocabulary of graph.
+ Never hesitate
+ Use gap fillers, if unable to deliver information on time

4) Re-tell lecture

+ Note down key-words, points and ideas.

+ Start with” The speaker/lecturer/lecture depicts about-----
+ Introduction of topic
+ Causes and effects/advantages and disadvantages/comparison
+ Conclusion

5) Answer short-questions

+ Recall answers/information that sound familiar with the

question.
+ Everyday life/calendar/scientific general knowledge questions
relevant to academic subjects.

Writing Section:-

1) Summary:-

+ Try to give main point of the passage in one sentence only.

+ Separate the sentence using punctuation.
+ Always start from Research shows/Study reveals/The lecture
depicts about-----
+ Try to focus on words limit mentioned in the question.
+ Keep an eye on time-frame i.e. 10 minutes for each summary.
+ Set aside a minimum of 1 minute approx. for checking
mistakes, spellings, grammar and vocabulary.
+ Never mention irrelevant idea as it will affect your written
disclosure(idea mentioned properly).

2) Essay:-

+ Word limit should not be less than 200 and not more than 300
as your essay will not get checked by the computer.
+ Mentioned paragraphs and ideas properly.
+ Keep an eye on time frame i.e 20 min for each essay
+ Use proper grammar and high frequency vocabulary words as
they will entail (increase) your score.
+ Leave 2 minutes at the end for re-checking the essay.

(Skip to Next Question after completing each section, as computer

will not do it by itself)

Good Luck.

12. Tips for Re-order Paragraphs - Taken from CAT website, modified to suit PTE

Re-order paragraphs (RoP) questions are of the type - 4/5 sentences are given in a random order
and you have to reorder all of them.

The best approach

a) The best approach to solving RoP questions is the ‘go through’ one. That is, develop a high
reading speed and scan all 4-5 sentences. Try to get a feel of what the passage is about,

b) Look at the options and find the one which suits best as opening sentence, place/mark it at top
for meanwhile

c) Look at the other options and find the once which suits best as concluding statement or ending
statement, place/mark it at bottom for meanwhile

d) Look at the remaining options and try to find linking words in them, place them accordingly

RoP strategies to save time and increase accuracy

Strategy 1: Once upon a time long ago... / ...and they lived happily after: Identify the
opening/closing sentence using what we discussed above. Either the tone of the paragraph or the
option elimination method.
Strategy 2: Where's the interlock dude? Identify links between two sentences and try to see if that
link exists in multiple answer options (a sure way to know that you are on the right track). A
combination of 1 and 2 will take you home most of the time.

Place your magnifying glass on the following,

Strategy 2a: Make it 'personal'. Look out for personal pronouns (he, she, it, him, her, you, they).
Personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing. Therefore, if a sentence has a personal
pronoun without mentioning the person, place or object it is referring to, mark it in your head and
scan the paragraph for the original person, place or object that it refers to.

For example if you go back to the opening jumbled paragraph of this article, the third sentence
starts with 'it'. We now need to figure out what 'it' refers to and the sentence containing the
original 'it' will come before this sentence.

Strategy 2b: Look for 'Poriborton' (Change, in Mamata Banerjee's tongue). Certain words called
'transition words' help the author to shift from one thought flow to another. In other words, they
usher in change. Some transition words that appear regularly are --- hence, besides,
simultaneously, in conclusion, etc. While you practice RoPs whenever you come across a
transition word --- note it down. Make a list!

Strategy 2c: Demonstrate! Look for demonstrative pronouns --- this, that, these, those, etc. Again,
if you look at our opening paragraph, the first line starts with 'for this' --- now we know that we
need to figure out what 'this' refers to and the sentence containing the original 'this' will come
before this sentence.

Strategy 3: Main samay hoon! Sometimes the events mentioned in the paragraph can be arranged
in a chronological order making it easy for you to identify the sequence. Example,

A: Alexander Bain, Scottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock.

B: The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum
clock.

C: Clocks have played an important role in man's history.

D: Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century, although they are often erroneously
credited to Nuremberg watchmaker Peter Henlen around 1511.
It is quite obvious by studying the chronology what the sequence should be.

Strategy 4: The abbreviation Approach. Sometimes you will find that for some terms in the
paragraph both the full form and the abbreviation have been used. For Example IMF ---
International Monetary Fund, Charles Dickens --- Dickens, Dr Manmohan Singh --- Dr Singh. In
these cases where both the full form as well as the abbreviation is present in different sentences,
then the sentence containing the full form will obviously come before the sentence containing the
abbreviation.

Strategy 5: What an Idea! If there are two sentences, one containing an idea and another giving
examples of the same idea then the sentence containing the idea should come before the sentence
containing the examples. But they need not necessarily be exactly side by side. Example,

A: Nicaragua possesses the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world.

B: 489 missiles carrying up to 1,788 warheads and 12 submarines carrying up to 609 warheads
form a looming threat.

A will come before B in this case, even though there might be sentences in between.

Strategy 6: An article of faith. It is highly unlikely that the definite article 'the' will be part of an
opening sentence. If 'a/an' and 'the' both are used for the same noun then the sentence containing
'the' will come after the sentence containing a/an.

Tips for beginners

Focus on improving your reading skills. Also try to improve your cognitive ability. For example -
-- Go to a random website article. Go immediately to the second paragraph and after reading it try
to guess what the author could have possibly said in the previous paragraph and the next
paragraph. This will help you with a couple of other types of questions as well which we shall
discuss in later articles.

Tips from 90 scorers

Whenever you solve RoP the accuracy and speed is a function of how quickly you can become
comfortable with the topic. So from today for every RoP you solve, plug a sentence from the RoP
into Google which will throw up the source of that RoP or similar articles. Read up that article
fully. This will broaden the base of your reading.